Annotations for Speaker: Interviewer

So, this is [INTERVIEWER'S NAME], and today's date is June 6, 2024. And I'm here in [COMMUNITY NAME] for an interview with one of our community members, and before we begin, I'd like to get verbal consent for the form that we went over. Could you please say, "I consent to being interviewed and audio recorded for this study."

Okay. So to get started, I would love to hear about your journey to this community. How did you end up here?

Wow, that's amazing. Could you tell me a bit more about this community? How would you describe it to an outsider? [BACKGROUND CONSTRUCTION NOISE]

Whatever you feel.

Absolutely. Yes, I am, you definitely have a deep understanding of the community, [BACKGROUND CONSTRUCTION NOISE]

Because of your time and experiences here. And it's great to hear that. Um, moving on. Let's talk more about this community. What are some of the notable changes you've observed in this community over the years? [BACKGROUND CONSTRUCTION NOISE]

Those are significant changes. And I found the, women part very interesting that women were mostly at home and men were the ones working. And I feel that this has significantly changed over the years,

because now women are a major, um, part of the workforce

Yes, absolutely. So, speaking of changes, let's discuss the strengths of this community, in your opinion, what are the community's greatest strengths?

So you would say that that's a weakness that we're facing today [PEOPLE SPEAKING IN THE BACKGROUND]

I agree. And those are valid points. And do you know how we can address those points?

Absolutely. I agree and promoting diversity is very important. And I think we are a very diverse community.

Yeah

lots of new people

That's very interesting that you say that things have changed a lot

over the years.

Absolutely. Um, Moving on. The next question is how do your community connections impact your work?

Yes, so

Mhmm, Absolutely. And you said that your current job is, a school board trustee.

Interesting.

Oh.

Nice

Wow

I did not know that.

That's interesting.

That's quite interesting. Yeah. So now I'd like to talk more about your work as a school board trustee. And could you tell me about how you got into this role?

Do you want water?

Wow

That's quite inspiring. I must say, and how long have you been working there for?

Yeah. 21 years you said?

Yeah

That's a substantial amount of time,

Wow

Mhmm

Yes, absolutely. So what is a typical workday look like for you?

Mhmm

Your days are very structured, I must say. [LAUGHS]

Mhmm

that requires quite a lot of discipline.

Yes. So according to you, what does it mean to be a school board trustee in this community?

Yes, absolutely. Your role is very impactful to this community, and to all the children, especially focusing on academics.

So are there any aspects of your job that bring you the most joy or satisfaction?

Yes, I resonate with the eight to five that you just mentioned. It's my first internship. So I'm going through that phase.

Absolutely. But I'm getting used to it.

And I'm glad that you find so much joy and satisfaction in your job, and what you do for

a living.

I agree. I will definitely take that advice.

Absolutely. And what are the biggest challenges you face in your work?

Those challenges are very demanding, I must say

And I never knew how much it takes to run a school. And it's truly inspiring. There's a lot of hard work. And I am truly appreciative of all that y'all do. Thank you. Um, Can I close the door? If you don't mind?

There's a lot of background noise,

[FOOTSTEPS TO CLOSING THE DOOR]

Would you like some water?

Would you like some water?

Yeah

Okay, so now let's talk more about your experiences as a resident of this community. And for this first set of questions, I'll read a statement to you. And I'd like you to indicate the extent of your agreement with each one. I'll have you give your answer on a scale of one to four, where one is completely disagree. Two is somewhat disagree. Three is somewhat agree and four is completely agree. If you would like to comment on any of the statements, please feel free to. So the first phrase is I consider myself to be an American. Would you say?

That you completely agree. Okay. Using the same scale? How would you rate this following statement? I consider myself to be a Texan.

Great. Which of the following three statements do you agree with most strongly, I am an American first and a Texan, Second. I am Texan first and American second, or being Texan and American are equally important to me.

Okay, The next phrase is to be a true Texan. You must know how to speak English. What would you rate this using the same scale we started with?

How about to be a true Texan, you must know how to speak Spanish?

The next phrase is in my community, you can do everything you want and get everything you need, even when you don't speak English.

Ok

Great. And finally, in my community life has been pretty stable over the last 40 years. Things haven't changed much.

I agree 100%. And now I'd like to hear from you about the community itself. So what are some of the things that have changed in this community during the last few decades?

I did not know that.

Wow

Mmhm

Wow, those are quite impactful. And I moved to [COMMUNITY NAME], around 10 years ago. And I've seen so many developments over the years just in like 10 years.

So you've lived here for your entire life. So I can't imagine

like all the changes that you've seen here.

That's interesting. I never thought about that.

So that was very interesting to me. Um, So overall, would you say this is a good community to live in?

I probably did

Wow

Hyrdo-

Hydroponics. That's interesting. So, let's talk a little bit about your childhood. So, what was or is the best part about being a kid or a young person in this community?

Sounds like a wonderful experience. Your childhood is quite different than what we experienced in our childhood.

today, it's mostly technology driven, iPads and

phones

kids are not on the farms, they're not experiencing the real childhood.

Hmm

Absolutely. I agree.

100%. And that [PEOPLE LAUGHING IN THE BACKGROUND] instills a discipline. And, you know, it sets your entire life, the future. Absolutely. And my next question was, do you feel that the traditional way of life in this community is going away? And with what you answered previously, I got my answer, you said that the traditional way is going away, what you used to do years ago, is now going away.

Yes, absolutely. And do you think that we can bring some of the traditional way of living back to the community? Hmm

Yes, absolutely. [BACKGROUND CONTRUCTION NOISE] And now moving on to a little bit of a lighter note.

[LAUGHS] What is your favorite sports team?

so you don't watch it. any more, or-or do you still watch it?

I completly agree.

Yes, that's so important to value everyone's opinions and respect each other.

Yes. So, did you have to do chores when you were younger? Or now?

[LAUGHS]

Wow

That's great. So what was the worst chore that you had to do?

Yeah

That's inspiring.

Yes

Wow

Do they, do they still have that?

nd was there a chore you didn't mind so much?

Wow

Yes. Did you ever get caught pretending to do a chore? But not really doing it?

Wow

True.

Yeah. I did not write the questions.[LAUGHS]

I think so.

Wow

That's great. [CONSTRUCTION NOISE] And now moving on to the next question. Did you ever tell a story about another person thinking the other person was not near you? But then turned around and saw that person was standing right next to you?

Mhmm

I agree

Mhmm

And that's truly valuable. Absolutely.

Yup, so the next question is a lot of people think of the 1990s as

the golden decade of pop music. Do you agree? If no, what was the best decade in pop music and why?

Absolutely. I also resonate with that.

I think music is very pure,

and it is a therapy.

And when you add those vulgar words,

it kind of, you know, ruins everything for you.

I agree. So thank you so much for your answers. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me. And if you have the time, I just have one last request for you before we conclude our interview, so one of the overarching research questions through the Home to Texas program is about linguistic changes in Texas. As part of this project, a linguistic researcher is asking that interview participants read a brief passage, which should only take a couple of minutes in it is a short made up story about life in Texas, that was created in the 1980s. And since then, linguistic researchers have recorded a few 100 Texans reading it. They use these recordings as samples of people's standard way of speaking as they tried to track how speech in Texas varies and changes over time. Would you be willing to read a brief passage out loud? Yes. Great. Thank you so much. And whenever you are ready, [FLIPPING PAPER] could you please read this page out loud?

Thank you for contributing your voice to the collection. And thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences with me. I really appreciate your time and generosity. And if you don't have any other questions or comments, I'll go ahead and stop the recording now.

Thank you so much.

Okay, this is with [INTERVIEWER NAME]. Today is July 17, and I'm here in Pflugerville for an interview with one of our community members [INTERVIWEE NAME]. Okay, before we begin, I'd like to get a verbal consent from the form that we already went over. Can you say I consent to being interviewed to being interviewed to being interviewed?

interviewed. interviewed. interviewed. [LOUDER]

Yeah. And recorded and recorded for this study.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You agree to?

Okay. Can you tell me how you came to live here?

How you came to live here?

Can you tell me about this community?

How would you describe it to someone that doesn't live here?

If someone if someone didn't live here, how would you describe the community to them?

So you've once the first time you came here, which is?

How do you think the community has changed from your time living here?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the community strengths?

What roles and relationships do you have in the community?

Yeah,

Okay. What do you do for work?

For work.

Yeah,

So your community connections with other people? Do they affect your work?

And then these questions are your job. But I don't think all of them were related. When did you start doing your work as like, your household chores and everything? When did you start doing them? Like how did you get the job? How did you get the role?

Yeah. When did you learn

Okay. Now, you're also a retired teacher?

How did? Oh, yeah. Yes. How did you get into that job?

How long did you do it?

What did a typical workday look like? What what did a workday look like?

Yeah, like what did you do? Like did you did you like students every day what did you do every day?

No, when you were in teaching.

What did it mean to be a teacher? What what did it mean to you to be a teacher?

so that makes you the most that brings you the most joy?

Okay, and then what's your biggest challenge with your job as teaching?

Okay, now, these questions, it's a one to four okay. One is completely disagree. Two is somewhat disagree. Three is somewhat disagree and four, no, three is somewhat agree and four is completely agree. So four is most agreeable. And one is least agreeable. Yeah. Okay. So on a scale of one to four, one being the least and four being the most. This phrase is, I consider myself American. one to four.

1? one is the least.

Yes.

Yes.

No. No.

Okay. 1-4 I consider myself Texan.

Texan.

Which one do you agree with most strongly? One. I am American first. Texan. Second? Two. I'm Texan. First, American second or, three- they're both equal.

1, 2, 3 or 4? One being the least agreeable for being the most agreeable? Or for? To be a true Texan? You have to know how to speak Spanish

So 1-4. So at least which is least? one?

In my community. You can do everything you want. Even when you don't know English

In my community, life has been pretty stable over the last 40 years things have not changed too much

Okay. Let's see. What are some things that have changed in this community during the last few decades?

Is this a good community to live in?

Okay. What is the best part about being a kid or young person in this community?

No. Kid or young person? Like, maybe? Yeah. Like maybe teenager or young adults?

What's the best thing about it?

Do you think that traditional way of life is going away in this community?

What is your favorite sports team? Or do you have a favorite sports team?

For sports sports team? Sports, like soccer football,

Team? Yeah.

Did you have chores when you were younger? chores, chores chores?

Do you have choice now?

What's the worst work you have to do? And what's the best one? What's the worst worst thing you have to do? And the best thing you have to do?

Yeah, this question says, Some people think that it's hard for boys and girls to be friends. What do you think some people think? It's hard for boys and girls to be friends? Hard for boys and girls. Friends. What do you think?

Okay. Did you ever tell a story about somebody? And you didn't know that they were next to but they were right next to you?

Do you remember it?

A lot of people think the 1990s as the golden decade of pop music. Do you agree?

A golden decade of pop music.

Okay Um Okay, so you don't know much about it

Okay.

Thank you so much for your answers. I appreciate your time. There is a passage that they want you to Read. It's part of the program the whole Texas program. And they're researching people's voices and as Texas and like where the voices came from and things like that. Do you want to read the passage? Yes or no?

Up to you if you want to. It's like this

Okay. Okay. That's fine. Okay. Then that's it. Thank you so much

All right, this is Devin Nguyen. Today is June 19. And I'm here in Pflugerville, Texas with Bill Combes, one of our community members at Red Rock liberal area. Before we begin, I'd like to get verbal consent for the form that we went over. Can you please say I consent to being interviewed, and audio recorded for this study?

Sounds great. Perfect. To get started, can you kind of tell me about what's brought you to this community?

Thank you. That sounds really cool. Can you kind of tell me a bit more about like community that you live in? And how you describe Round Rock to people that don't really live here?

Kind of along with that vein of change that you've seen within Round Rock, what do you kind of consider as the strengths of this community?

Well, that sounds great! Thank you. Um, on kind of the other prong of that question, what do you sort of identify as some of the weaknesses of this community?

Continuing with that, I'd like to kind of pick up with this idea of what you do for work, if possible, like, if you could tell me kind of along the lines of like what you typically like, what's your typical workday? What do you consider your role in this community? I'd say?

And how do your connections influence like your work as a marketing agency?

Gotcha. And what aspects of that job that are kind of related to connection bring you the most satisfaction.

What are some kind of challenges that you face along that line of work?

I love that you're able to work around it, though. I appreciate that drive that you have to like keep working. I think that's really admirable. Yeah, and I want to pivot a bit if that's okay with you to kind of talk about more of your experience as a resident in Round Rock, especially for the next set of questions. I'm going to have to read a statement to you and I'd like you to indicate to the extent of your agreement with each statement from just like one to four one being like completely disagree for being completely agree. And then two and three kind of being somewhat disagree and somewhat agree if that middle range.

One is disagree four is agree. Yes, sir. Okay

and then so our for our first phrase, we have I considered myself to be an American, would you say on a scale from one to four? Where do you live with that?

One is disagree. And then four is agree.

Using the same scale. How would you write the following statement? I consider myself to be a Texan.

That is which of the following three statements do you kind of agree with or Kindle most strongly? I am an American first and a Texan. Second, I'm a Texan first an American second, or being texted in America and are equally important to me.

So back to the one to four scale, the next phrase is to be a true Texan, you must know how to speak English.

yeah. How about to be a true Texan? You must know how to speak Spanish

All right. Our next phrase is in my community, you can do everything you want, and get everything you need, even when you don't speak English. I would say for on that. And then finally, in my community, life has been pretty stable over the last 40 years, things haven't changed much.

I kind of want to hear more about the community itself. From your perspective. If you don't mind, what are some things that have changed in this community during the last few decades that you've kind of noticed what being here.

Overall, would you say that this is a good community to live in despite that?

Glad to hear it. Yeah, um, let's see. Oh, okay. What is your favorite sports team?

All right. And then how have they been doing lately?

Did you have to do chores when you were younger? Or even--What was the worst chore?

What was the chore that you didn't particularly mind doing?

Some people think that it's hard for boys and girls to be friends. What do you think?

Good to hear it. Did you ever tell a story about another person thinking they weren't near you? But then they turned out that they were? Could you kind of tell me about that, if that has happened to you? And if so happened afterwards?

That's good to hear! A lot of people think this is kind of our last year as question. A lot of people think that the 1990s as this kind of golden decade of pop music. Do you agree? And if not, what do you consider as the best decade of pop music? 80s Interesting. Okay, just 10 years prior, is there any reason why?

Yeah, sounds very valid very. Well, thank you so much for your answers. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me. If you have the time. I do have a request. I know we're a bit short on the Zoom time. So totally fine. If not we optional. But component of the overarching reach your question throughout the whole Texas program is kind of about the linguistic changes across Texas. And so this should really only take a couple of minutes. But read this passage just so we could have your voice on recording. We could look into kind of the linguistic aspects of how your I guess voice in comparison to others in Texas? Oh, maybe not. Because I'm on let me send in the chat. So perhaps not because it's a bit too long. So we might have a pass on that. But nonetheless, I really appreciate you for taking time to see me today. Thank you so much for your answers. I just like really it's really helpful. Thank you so much.

This is [INTERVIEWER], today is June 17, 2024 and I'm here in [COMMUNITY NAME] for an interview with one of our community members. Before we begin, I like to give verbal consent for the form that we went over. Can you please say I consent to being interviewed and audio recorded for this study?

Alright. To get started, can you tell me about how you came to live in this community?

That's so nice. Could you tell me a little bit more about this community? How would you describe it to someone who doesn't live here?

I agree. That's exactly how I would describe it. How do you think this community has changed throughout your time living here?

How do you think- um oh wait, What would you say are the strengths of this community?

Yeah, and what would you say are some of the weaknesses?

Yeah, um what could you tell me about the roles and relationships you have in this community?

Okay, how do you think your connections in this community influenced your work as an insurance, what was it again?

Okay.

Nice, and could you tell me about how you got into this role?

And how long have you been working um there? I'm sorry?

Nice. And what is the typical workday look like for you?

And what does it mean to be a insurance advisor in this community?

Yeah, and what aspects of your job bring you the most joy or satisfaction?

And what are the biggest challenges you face in your work?

Yep, I love that. Now, let's talk more about your experiences as a resident of this community. For this first set of questions. I'll read a statement to you and I'd like you to indicate the extent of your agreement with each one. I'll have you give your answer on a scale of one to four, where one is completely disagree. Two is somewhat disagree. Three is somewhat agree and four is completely agree. If you'd like to comment on any of the statements, please feel free to. The first phrae is: I consider myself to be an American. Would you say that you one completely agree- Disagree? Two somewhat disagree? Three complete- somewhat agree or four completely agree.

Yeah.

You can just leave it at the number that'll be good. But if you have more to say, go for it.

Yeah, using the same scale, how would you rate the following statement? I consider myself to be a Texan.

Which of the following three statements do you agree with most strongly? One, I am first American, and Texan second. I am Texan first and a American second. Or three, being Texan and American are equally important to me.

The next phrase is to be a true Texan you must know how to speak English. What would you rate this one using the same scale we started with?

And how about to be a true Texan, you must not speak English. [INAUDIBLE]

Wait. Now looking at it, it is the same question. So we can skip over it.

Sorry about that.

Okay. The next phrase is in my community, you can do anything- everything you want, and get everything you need, even when you don't speak English.

And finally in my community, life has been pretty stable over the last 40 years, things haven't changed much.

Okay. Now, I'd like to hear from you about the community itself. What are some of the things that have changed in this community during the last few decades?

Yeah, it's so- I love like the small town vibe to it, but like it has so much to offer.

Overall, is this a good community to live in?

What was or is the best part about being a kid or a young person in this community?

Yeah.

So true. And do you feel that the traditional way of the li- of life in this community is going away?

Yeah. And what is your favorite sports team?

Uh, let's go pro.

What? [LAUGHS] How have they been doing lately?

Um, did you have to do chores when you were younger? Or now?

What was the worst chore?

[LAUGHS] Every time. What was the chore you didn't mind so much?

And did you ever get caught pretending to do a chore but not really doing it?

[CHUCKLES] Did you ever tell a story about another person thinking the other person was not near you, but then turned around and saw that the person was standing right next to you?

Could you tell me about it, what happened?

Okay, that's good. Um, a lot of people think of the 1990s as the golden decade of pop music. Do you agree?

And what would you say is the best decade in the pop music industry and why?

Valid.

I see [LAUGHS] alright. That's all the questions. Thank you so much for your answers. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. If you have time, I have one last request for you before we conclude our interview. Over- one of the last research questions through the home of Texas program is about linguistic changes in Texas. As part of this project, a linguistic researcher is asking that interview participants read a brief passage, which should only take a couple of minutes. It's a short made up story about a life in Texas that was created in the 1980s and since then, linguistic researchers have recorded a few 100 Texans reading it. They now use these recordings as samples of people standard way of speaking as they try to track how speech in Texas varies and changes over time. Would you be willing to read this brief passage out loud?

Alright. I'm gonna screen share it. And you're free to read whenever.

Yes

Alright, thank you so much for contributing your voice to the collection and thank you so much for taking your time to share your experiences with me. I really appreciate your time and generosity. If you don't have any other questions or comments, I'll go ahead and stop the recording now.

[AIRCONDITIONER ON IN BACKGROUND] This is [INTERVIEWER]. Today is July 1, 2024, and I'm here in [COMMUNITY NAME], Texas for an interview with one of our community members. Before we begin, I'd like to get verbal consent for the form that we went over, could you please say, I consent to being interviewed and audio recorded for this study?

[LAUGHS] Interviewed.

Thank you. So to get started, can you tell me about how you came to live in this community?

And, could you tell me a bit more about this community? Or how you might describe it to someone who doesn't live here?

Great. [LAUGHS] And how do you think this community has maybe changed throughout your time living here?

And what would you say are maybe some of the strengths that you see in this community?

[LAUGHS] Um, would you say that there are some weaknesses in this community?

Mm. And could you tell me about some of the roles or relationships that you have in this community?

Yeah?

Anything from like your just being a mother, and friendships and stuff can all be roles in the community so..

Mm.

Nice! [LAUGHS] Cool. And then you said that you were a teacher for a long time. Um, how did you like teaching in [COMMUNITY NAME]? Do you think it would differ from maybe teaching in other communities around Texas?

And you said that was maybe in your last five years of teaching... Uh, how long ago did you retire?

Ok, so it's still pretty recent of when you feel like the turn happened with students?

Mm.

Mm.

[LAUGHS]

Yeah. I feel like a lot of people maybe are seeing that even more now in kids..

...with like, everything that's changed in the internet since then.

Mm. And how do you think that your connections in the community, maybe your role as a mother or some of the groups that you're in, influenced your work as a teacher?

Hm. Is teaching the main job that you had? Or did you try out something maybe before you got into it?

Gotcha. And um, what would maybe a typical workday as a teacher look like for you? Maybe the difference between you know, being a [COMMUNITY NAME] teacher or one with so many kids, like your sister you mentioned in Arizona having so many more kids, what do you think your day was like as a teacher in [COMMUNITY NAME]?

[LAUGHS] Yeah, whatever you think defines like your day as, as a teacher. Yeah.

Mm. What got you into maybe teaching in special needs versus going into more, a traditional classroom setting

Right. That's a super interesting way to do it. I don't know that I've heard anyone doing that kind of thing to get into teaching.

Uhuh.

Right.

Mhm.

Mm. Umm, and then... What aspects of your job do you think brought you the most joy and satisfaction? Or maybe, what were the biggest challenges on top of that?

Mm.

Do you think a lot of those problems are anything specific to like, that district maybe had like a lot of red tape? Or a lot of teachers that weren't super well trained? Or do you think that's just kind of across the board..? Yeah, I think that's interesting, especially because you kind of came from a more business background and didn't intend to go into teaching.

Yeah. Huh. So... Now I have some questions that are a bit more a specific research question from the, the PIs on the study. Um, more about your experience as a resident in [COMMUNITY NAME]? Um, for this first set of questions, I'll read a statement to you and I'd like you to indicate the extent of your agreement with it, with each one.

Um, So I'll have you give your answer on a scale of one to four, where one is complete disagreement and two somewhat disagree. Three, somewhat agree, and four is completely agree. Um. And if you'd like to comment on any of the statements as well, like, please feel free to. Um...So the first phrase is, "I consider myself to be an American." Would you see- say that you one, two, three, or four, one being completely disagree, four being completely agree?

Mhm.

Yeah. I think a lot of people would agree with that right now. [LAUGHS] And we're getting so close to the Fourth of July right now that it's like..

Mhm.

Mhm.

Yeah. And I think maybe that's especially relevant in Texas…

And the next one will be on the same scale. Um. Uh how would you rate the following statement, "I consider myself to be a Texan?"

Yeah.

[LAUGHING] Um... And then the next part is, it kind of relates to like what we're talking about anyways, but um, the- which of the following three statements do you agree with most strongly? So the first one is, "I'm American first and Texan second." Or, "I'm Texan first and American second." Or, "Being Texan and American are equally important to me."

Gotcha. Um. And then, the next phrase is, "To be a true Texan, you must know how to speak English." What would you rate that on the one to four scale? Four being agreement.

That's not the que-, that's not the next question but... [LAUGHS]

So if you were to put um, to be a true Texan, you must know how to speak English, on the scale... Where do you think you would fall?

Okay.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

And just to give you a hint on that, like, the next question is: "To be a true Texan, you must know how to speak Spanish." So it's maybe on the other side of the scale on that one.

Mhm.

Gotcha. Yeah, [LAUGHS] no, I think uh.

Yeah, I think for the purposes of the study, it's sort of to see like, some people might feel strongly about that regardless of like, how loaded it may seem with a lot of other things. So I don't think anyone's gonna really misconstrue your answer. It's a very simple scale. It's hard to pin down.

Yeah, it might not. It might not have such relevance in a different state.

I think that's something [SHIFTING CHAIRS, INAUDIBLE] that makes Texas kind of really interesting.

Um. And the next phrase is, "in my communities, specifically, you can do everything you want and get everything you need, even when you don't speak English."

Okay. You'd put maybe on the four of the scale's...?

Gotcha.

Okay.

Gotcha. And then finally, "In my community, life has been pretty stable over the last 40 years, and things haven't changed much."

Gotcha. And then, now I have some more questions about the community itself.

Um, what are some things that you think have maybe changed maybe the most significantly in this community during the last few decades?

And um, overall, would you say that this is a good community to live in?

Yeah. And was or is, uh what was or is the best part about being a kid or a young person in this community?

Do you think it's still possible for kids nowadays in this community to have that same type of childhood experience?

And um, do you feel that the traditional way of life in this community is going away?

Mhm. So you'd say that like technology, and maybe people's perceptions of everything have been the reason that things are like, the traditional life is changing.

Got it. And then, some of these are just a bit more like about you and about you living here. And um, what's maybe your favorite sports team and have, how have they been doing lately? [LAUGHS]

Yeah. [LAUGHS]

And then... Did you have to do chores when you were younger, or now? And what was maybe the worst chore?

And did you have your, your son do the same um, type of chores that you were expected to do?

Mhm. And then um, when you were younger, did you ever get caught pretending to do a chore but not really doing it? [LAUGHS]

[LAUGHS] uM. Did you ever tell a story about another person thinking that they weren't near you? But then they turned around, but then turned around and saw that they were standing right behind you?

Do you have a, [INAUDIBLE] can you think of like a specific thing. You don't have to but [LAUGHS]

Or maybe that's some time that that happened to you?

Mhm.

[LAUGHS] Got it. Do you think that nowadays maybe that situation would look a lot different given how kids um, interact with each other maybe more over online than they do just talking face to face?

Yeah. That's interesting.

Yeah. Although do you think that maybe we're losing some of the like, you said, you're like rather a blunt person, maybe do you think it's maybe sometimes beneficial to be that way, and maybe kids are not as much that way when they're talking to a person or maybe, too much, online?

Mhm.

Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense. Interesting to follow that generationally, you know?

Um. And then one, uh what would you say is maybe your favorite genre or decade of music? And do you think living in this community has shaped that in you?

Hm. Do you think that um, other younger people in your community that you know, or maybe even your son had sort of a different um evolution of their music taste now because…

Mhm.

[LAUGHING] Yeah thats really funny. Uh, do you.

I think he did get into it in high school. I don't think he continued it through college, though. It's kind of interesting that that kind of followed him to Harvard, which maybe has a different demographic of people, there.

Mhm.

[LAUGHING]

[LAUGHING] Yeah, that's super interesting. That's all the questions…

...we have listed. But thank you so much for all your answers. It was really, really fun to talk to you about it. [INAUDIBLE] Um. And we just have one last request before we conclude the interview... As part of the linguistics changes, we have a passage that you can read out loud...

Would you be okay reading it for us?

Awesome. [PAPERS FLIPPING]

LAUGHING] Whatever is your natural accent. Sometimes this passage is a little bit easy to slip into

a southern accent, I think.

Mhm. Awesome. Thank you so much!

Chester drawers? How come you'd expect it to be in there?

Oh, that's interesting!

Uhuh. Did a lot of people around here you think still use it that way?

Uhuh

Super cool. [LAUGHING]

Mhm.

[LAUGHING] Yeah, I used to call it pecan [Pee-can] too. Yeah. [LAUGHS] Do you think maybe that was some influence from your parents, you'd hear some of that? Or?

Yeah.

Cool. Are they from Texas, too?

Awesome.

Oh awesome!

[LAUGHS]

Mhm.

That's awesome.

Yeah. [LAUGHING]

I think it's intended to have some of those sounds that

they can hear it come out in people's accents that are maybe less defined.

Interesting.

Yeah, I think, aren't- people have told me I do. I think it's kind of hard to tell in yourself, you know, but..

Mhm. Yeah absolutely. Awesome.

That's all I've got but, thank you so much.

or being interviewed! I'll go ahead and, stop the recording real quick.

Uh I have-

This is [interviewer]. Today is June 21 2024. And I'm here in [COMMUNITY NAME] Texas for an interview with one of our community members. Before we begin, I'd like to get verbal consent for the form that we just went over. Can you please say, "I consent to being interviewed and audio recorded for this study?

Wonderful. Thank you so much.

All right. To get started, could you tell me a bit about how you came to live in this community?

Cool. Could you tell me a bit more about this community? How would you describe it to someone who hasn't lived here?

I would agree with that. Uh, how do you think this community has changed throughout your time living here?

I think that's a lot of the appeal of [COMMUNITY NAME].

Great, what would you say are some of the strengths of this community, maybe that's one of them?

For sure. Those are great. Uh, on the other hand, what would you say are some of the weaknesses of this community?

I mean, obviously, you have [AREA OF CITY] on one side and then the [AREA OF CITY] on the other.

All right. On a bit of a different note. Could you tell me about the roles and relationships you have in this community?

Obviously, I've seen some of them, but... The roles and relationships.

Awesome. Um... what do you do for work?

[LAUGHS] You've been all over the place here.

You've seen a few things.

How do you think your connections in this community influence your work as a... school administrator?

I would totally agree. I haven't lived here nearly as long but... you start to see the circling.

The strange connections.

Okay, now I'd like to talk more about your work as a school administrator.

Can you tell me about how you got into this role?

Okay... so you already answered this. How long have you been working here, since 2002?

Oh, right.

That's almost as long as I've been alive.

Okay, what does a typical workday look like for you? Maybe in your current position since you've had so many here.

I'm sure your past positions have helped you.

For sure, that's great. What does it mean to be a school administrator in this community?

To you.

I'd agree. Uh, what aspects of your job bring you the most joy or satisfaction?

I did see that. It looks good.

Stuff - I was telling [ADMINISTRATOR'S NAME] this, she was telling me about it. It sounds like - I swear, every time I leave, something, something gets renovated like the new grammar school, or..

I'll -I'll get out of here and maybe you'll get a new rhetoric school. [LAUGHS] Okay, what are the biggest challenges you face in your work? Could be current or past. I'm sure head of school was..

For sure, I can imagine the opinions of the parents specifically are…

A lot.

Okay, so those were kind of the more generalized questions that we ask all five of the categories.

So now we're gonna get into the more interesting personal ones, I think. Yeah. Now let's talk more about your experiences as a resident of this community.

So for this first set of questions, I'm going to read a statement to you and I'd like you to indicate the extent of your agreement with each one. It's on a scale of one to four where one is completely disagree, two is somewhat disagree. Three is somewhat agree, and four is completely agree.

I don't know why they didn't do five.

If you'd like to comment on any of the statements, please feel free.

Okay, the first phrase is "I consider myself to be an American." Would you say that you - okay, one to four.

I think so.

Awesome. Okay, using the same scale, how would you rate the following statement? "I consider myself to be a Texan."

That's fair.

To some people it might, to me I don't know.

That's fair. Okay, which of the following three statements do you agree with most strongly? "I am American first and Texan second." Number two, "I am Texan first and American second." Or three, "Being Texan and American are equally important to me."

These are interesting. The next phrase is "to be a true Texan, you must know how to speak English."

Scale of one to four.

I think it's a scale of one to four.

Okay, this one's... kind of the opposite. How about "to be a true Texan, you must know how to speak Spanish?"

The next phrase is "In my community, you can do everything you want and get everything you need, even when you don't speak English."

Two is somewhat disagree.

I would agree. I think [COMMUNITY NAME] is maybe some- more fortunate than some in Texas.

I think it would still be really difficult.

Okay, the last one of the ranking ones is "In my community, life has been pretty stable over the last 40 years and things haven't changed much."

I think referencing [COMMUNITY NAME]

Okay, now I'd like to hear from you about the community itself. Um... I feel like we already talked about this one. So if you have anything to add, feel free but if not, we can skip it. Um, what are some of the things that have changed in this community during the last few decades? I kind of feel like we already talked about it.

Yeah, sometimes they put repetitive ones on here. Sorry.

Okay. Overall, is this a good community to live in?

What was or is the best part about being a kid or a young person in this community?

I would totally agree. Uh... do you feel that the traditional way of life in this community is going away?

Okay. What do you think keeps things the same?

I think that's true. I think that's... a big difference between [COMMUNITY NAME] and a lot of the other Texas cities.

Right? Because, I mean, living in Austin, just for the last year, I've seen how much it's changed from when I was a kid and would visit.

Barely.

Oh, this one's different. What is your favorite sports team?

Good answer!

Well, this is kind of an obvious question. But how have the Longhorns been doing lately?

Is it the Big 12, or..?

It's been fun. Okay, did you have to do chores when you were younger? Or now?

What was the worst chore? Or is.

You can't get really more efficient at that.

What was a chore you didn't mind so much?

I share with my brother. So that's.

That's a blessing. Sorry [BROTHER'S NAME]. Did you ever get caught pretending to do a chore but not really doing it?

This one's weird. Some people think that it's hard for boys and girls to be friends. What do you think?

That's good. Did you ever tell a story about another person thinking the other person was not near you, but then turned around and saw that the person was standing right next to you? And what happened?

You? Not your mom?

Oh!

Wow.

That- that would traumatize me as a small child too.

That's true. Interesting. These are all over the place. A lot of people think of the 1990s as the golden decade of pop music. Do you agree?

I wouldn't go with the 90s either. I think they're just trying to get you to... talk about culture things or something, so..

Or speaking or something? I'm not sure. Okay, so those are all the questions, um. Thank you so much for answering them and taking the time to talk to me.

But if you have the time, I have just one last request for you before we conclude our interview.

So UT has been having people read the same little reading passage since I think the 80s to analyze the way people speaking across the state has changed in the last few decades.

..so they want you to read a brief passage.

Perfect.

Thank you so much!

Yeah, that's pretty much it. I guess I'll stop the recording.

Fastest one by far.

Perfect, thank you so much. Just as a reminder, this interview will likely last around an hour. But please let me know if you need a break at any point. I'm going to go ahead and turn the recorder on now. This is [INTERVIEWER NAME], today is the 15th of June and I am here in [COMMUNITY NAME], Texas for an interview with one of its community members, [COMMUNITY MEMBER'S NAME]. Before we begin, I'd like to get a verbal consent for the form that we went over. Could you please say I consent to being interviewed and audio recorded for this study?

Alrighty. So to get started, can you tell me about how you came to live in this community?

Could you tell me a bit more about this community? How would you describe it to someone who doesn't live here?

How do you think this community has changed throughout your time living here?

What would you say are the strengths of this community?

Just the strengths.

What would you say are some of the weaknesses of this community?

Could you tell me about the roles and relationships you have in this community?

Absolutely, any familia-familial relationships, or

And are they still in the [COMMUNITY NAME] area?

What do you do for work?

How do you think your connections in this community influence your work?

Now I'd like to talk about your work a little bit more. Could you tell me how you got into your role?

How long have you been working here?

And what does a typical workday look like for you?

What does it mean? To be a part of this job? In [COMMUNITY NAME]

Awesome yeah, and for the record, who is [FAMILY RELATIVE]

What aspects of your job bring you the most joy or satisfaction?

What are the biggest challenges you face in your work?

Okay, now, let's talk more about your experiences as a resident of this community. For the first set of questions, I'll read a statement to you. And I'd like you to indicate the extent of your agreement with each one. I'll give you your answer on a scale of one to four where one is completely disagree. Two is somewhat disagree. Three is somewhat agree, and four is completely agree. If you'd like to comment on any of the statements, please feel free to.

The first phrase is "I consider myself to be an American", would you say that you one completely disagree, two somewhat disagree, three, somewhat agree, or four completely agree with: I consider myself to be an American?

Using the same scale, how would you rate the following statement? "I consider myself to be a Texan".

Which of the following three statements do you agree with most strongly? One, I am American first and Texan second. Two, I am Texan first and American second, or three, being Texan and American are equally important to me. I can repeat those as well, if you need.

The next phrase is to be a true Texan, you must know how to speak English. What would you rate this one using the same scale we started with?

One would be completely disagree. Two would be somewhat disagree.

How about to be a true Texan, you must know how to speak Spanish?

One being completely disagree?

The next phrase is, in my community, you can do everything you want and get everything you need, even when you don't speak English.

Three is somewhat agree.

Finally, in my community, life has been pretty stable over the last 40 years, things haven't changed much.

Now I'd like to hear from you about the community itself. What are some of the things that have changed in this community during the last few decades?

[COMMUNITY NAME]

Yes, ma'am.

What are some of the things that have changed in [COMMUNITY NAME] during the last few decades.

Would you say it's getting more diverse? Or less?

Overall, is this a good community to live in?

What was or is the best part about being a kid or a young person in [COMMUNITY NAME]?

Well, you can speak on your experience when you were a kid and how you feel it has changed?

Is there anything in [COMMUNITY NAME], specifically that you did when you're a kid or a place you went?

That's exciting.

Do you feel that the traditional way of life in this community is going away?

You are not obligated to answer.

What is your favorite sports team?

Did you do chores when you were younger? Or-

What was the worst chore?

What was the chore you didn't mind so much?

Did you ever get caught pretending to do a chore but not really doing it?

How do those chores when you were younger compared to what you do now?

Some people think that it's hard for boys and girls to be friends. What do you think?

How do you feel about that?

And how did you meet Tom?

You had an exhibit?

I'd love that. Did you ever tell a story about another person thinking the other person was not near you? But then turned around and saw that person was standing right next to you?

A lot of people think of the 1990s as the golden decade, quote, unquote, of pop music. Do you agree?

Why is that? Do you know why? Any certain music or-?

Thank you so much for your answers. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me. If you have the time. I just have one last request for you. Before we conclude our interview. One of our overarching research questions throughout the Home to Texas program is about linguistic changes in Texas. As a part of this project, a linguistic researcher is asking that interview participants read a brief passage, which should only take a couple of minutes. It's a short made up story about life in Texas that was created in the 1980s, and since the linguistic researchers have recorded a few 100 Texans reading it. They use these recordings as samples of people's standard way of speaking as they try to track how speech in Texas varies and changes over time. Would you be willing to read a passage out loud?

Great. Thank you so much. Whenever you're ready, could you plead, please read this page out loud.

Thank you for contributing your voice to the collection. And thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences with me. I really appreciate your time and generosity. If you don't have any other questions or comments, I'll go ahead and stop the recording now.

Hi, this is Chloe Pineda. Today's date is July 4 2024, and I'm here in the city of [COMMUNITY NAME] for an interview with one of our community members. Before we begin, I would like to get a verbal consent for the form that we went over. Could you please say I consent to being interviewed and audio recorded for this study? 

To be interviewed and audio recorded. 

Okay. To get started, can you tell me about how you came to live in this community? 

Could you tell me a bit more about this community? How would you describe it to someone who doesn't live here?